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THE REPRESSION
It is vital to oppose the 'Bomb', and hopefully such
opposition will widen not narrow people's vision of
what they do oppose, to include all militarism. Great
Britain is one of the big four arms dealing nations of
the world.
Three-quarters of British arms
are sold to the Third World,
whose governments continue to
spend more on arms than health.
But the arms trade does not
only prevent the very poor of
this world from obtaining their
fair share of global resources
it also is a major factor in
fostering military rivalries,
region-"l arms races and in
maintaining dictatorships.
Britain might conceivably sell
other exports to these nations
- to help develop transport
and agricultural systems, or a
TRADE
decent water supply in lieu of
arms. In fact, large quantit-
ies of arms are sold at a loss
- for political reasons. (Nor
incidentally, does the arms
industry show real interest in
providing jobs - more and more
workers are replaced by
machines . )
Between 1977 and 1979,
Britain sold arms to more than
40 countries listed by Amnesty
International as having viola-
ted human rights. This comes
as no surprise when one reali-
ses Britain is the world 1 s 2nd
STOP ( THE CITY'
„ t M :
was a blockade of. the stock Excha nge involving
500 - 1000 anarchists, of which 200/210 were 7
arrested in direct confrontations with police,
including blockades of courts and Wood St. Police
Station. Follow up meetings, to discuss, amongst
other things the setting up of a defense fund were
held Oct. 15th/16th as this issue went to press.
Defense fund address: 121 Railton Rd. London SE24.
c
o
N
T
P.
4
Plastic bullet
Carrefour
CIMT Victory
Work in at
Thornton View
IVI i I i tarisation of
Polish Mining
Towards
Anarcha -Feminism
Buses — can 't pay,
won't pay ETC.
2
CARREFOUR -
CNT VICTORY
AFTER 127 DAYS OF STRUGGLE,
Carrefour Aimar S.p.a., the
supermarket chain, was forced
to reinstate the two workers,
and anarcho-syndicalist mili-
tants it had sacked five months
earlier. The story began on
December 28th 198 2 when Ignacio
Nevado got his dismissal
letter; the "official" reason
being that a leaflet of the
CNT* section (not recognised
by the firm) had been found on
him . January _4th another CNT
militant, Julian Ortega, was
sacked; the pretext this time
being that he had taken home
his work overalls.
CARREFOUR
BOYCOTT
Faced with these two sack-
ings the CNT Barcelona federat-
ion lost no time, organising a
large demonstration with the
call to "boycott Carrefour'."
On January 8th the police in-
tervened to break up a picket
at the entrance to the super-
market ,. making a few arrests.
From that day on arrests,
insults and tricks became a
regular feature, though they
failed to shake the CNT' s re-
solve to fight. For 127 con-
secutive days the anarcho-
syndicalist militants of the
CNT picketed the supermarket
entrance, demanding the re-
instatement of the two sacked
workers. During all this time
the bosses, police, political
parties and official unions
found themselves united against
the Carrefour fight, hoping in
a defeat for the CNT.
The anarcho-syndicalist
militants used all the means
at their disposal to convince
people to boycott the super-
market: from stink bombs to
leaflets to the erection of
barricades in front of the
entrances .Many customers who
had parked their cars in front
of Carrefour got a nasty sur-
prise when they found all the
tyres 1 et down .... Sol idari ty
with the two sacked workers
wasn' t restricted to Barcelona,
with demonstrations against
Carrefour being organised in
many other Spanish cities.
Carrefour even flew in their
managing director from Paris
CNT RESISTANCE
to help break the CNT' s re-
sistance. He decided to launch
a massive publicity campaign,
and the slogan "Do your shop-
ping at Carrefour" was trans-
mitted on Spanish radio and
televisior .
Finally on May 17th the
iudge proclaimed his sentence;
the two sackings were illegal
"\ and the two workers must
be re-hired. The CNT had won,
not even the law could win it
for Carrefour this time.
On May 19th, the day the
two CNT militants returned to
work, the firm put out a
statement in which it admitted
defeat and hoped for a return
to the peace lost when it had
decided to attack the CNT, A few
days later Spanish television
and radio began to transmit
Carrefour' s new publicity
slogan: "Now you can shop in
peace at Carrefour".
*CNT - National Confederation
of Labour - the Spanish anarcho-
syndicalist union federation,
has a membership of tens of
thousands, organising workers
in many industries. A sort of
revolutionary TUC.The most
militant of the Spanish union
confederations.
Translated from "Umanita
Nova" (No. 27, year 63) by D.M.
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THE MILITARISATION OF
POLISH MINING
NOTES FROM POLISH MINING
The militarization of the
Polish mining industry has had,
as in every other area of act-
ivity, severe consequences for
the conditions and safety of
•"he workers. Conditions in the
mines have worsened as people
work harder for less real wages
and maintenance is virtually
non-existent. All that matters
is extracting the coal. Leaving
their jobs is regarded as de-
sertion subject to a three year
prison sentence, and in extreme
cases, can mean death.
Under Martial Law, everyone
worked Saturdays while there
were so-called "voluntary"
shifts on Sundays. If anyone
failed to turn up for these
shifts, they were treated as
deserters and penalised accord-
ingly. Since the suspension of
Martial Law, Sundays are now
free, but Saturday is still a
working day. The miners are
forced to work arbitrarily-
chosen days at the discretion
of the military state.
The results of a rigorous
six-day week are shown up by
the massive stockpiles of un-
sold coal .One third of the
coal extracted has no buyer.
Although free Saturdays would
solve this problem to an extent
by decreasing the coal output
by one sixth, this is out of
the question under the present
regime. The miners need the
extra money gained by working
a six-day week. Therefore it is
unlikely that the long working
hours which produce the stock-
piles (wasting human and
mineral resources) will be re-
duced .
The "Solidarity year" of
1981 was the best period for
work safety and there were re-
markably few industrial accid-
ents. Not one miner died due to
negligence. The introduction of
Martial Law led to a vast in-
crease in fatalities and in-
juries. These were not reported
in the media, unless too many
people knew, which made a cover
-up impossible. In the first
nine months of Martial Law 161
workers were killed in mining
accidents, and hundreds injured.
These figures are the worst
since the 1950' s.
On the 3rd April 1982, 5
miners died in the Wiktoria
colliery, and a further 7 died
on the 5th June. These accidents
were due to extraction of coal
"inconsistent with the rules
and principles of mining tech-
, niques".In the Dymitrow Coll-
iery, 11 miners died on the
18th of June, 5 died on the
8th July, and on the 28th
November, 17 miners and rescue
workers were killed. All of
these accidents were due to
miners working in tremor-risk
areas (which had not been ad-
equately investigated) result-
ing from exhausted seams not
having been made safe. On the
28th December, 5 miners died
in the Katowice Colliery as a
result of lack of attention
being given to the danger of
tremors .
The miners of several
collieries appealed to the
Minister of Mining and Energy
in January 1983, stating their
desire to end the enormous
surplus of coal, and to put a
stop to the "tragic tremors"
and supposed "natural disaster-
s'' which were in effect caused
by the failures of the admin-
istration to deal adequately
with the safety conditions in
the mines.
The problem extends to land.
In Silesia, 997„ of the exhausted
mines are allowed to subside
and thus flood, forming mns.sivc
lakes winch threaten buildings
over an area of (>2 r > square
miles. Props of coal are not
left in to prevent caving, but
are exploi ted . Between 1979 and
1990, these props are expected
to yield 1 l,j 1 1 l on tonnes ( , f
coa 1 .
The accidents and I he
wasting of valuable resources
show how incapable the slate
administration is of running an
industry in safe cond i t ions . As
Solidarnosc is now outlawed,
and the official unions are
state-controlled, the workers
will continue to suffer the
consequences of their leaders'
faults with bad pay and con-
ditions, long hours, injury,
and death. only when the workers
themselves control the fruits
of their own labour will the
problem be solved.
The miners in Poland are
often regarded as being privil-
eged because they have special
ration books and seperate shops.
But this is just a tactic of
the state to divide and rule
the workers in the different
industries. Onl y when they all
get together to overthrow their
rulers will real wealth be
available to all.
M . C.
(The information for this
article comes from "Voice of
Sol i da r nose" . Avai labl e from :
NSZZ "Solidarnosc" Information
Office, 314-320 Grays Inn Kd . ,
London WC1 X 8 DP.
H IIMDL.ES
At the time of going to press,
the Hindle 1 s struggle continue
-ing,as reported in the last
issue of D.A. The workers
have won the right to an Ind-
ustrial Tribunal for unfair
di smi ssal ; they were sacked for
going on strike. Support is
still needed, as this dispute
has been going on a long time.
Hindles Gears Strike Fund,
A.U.F.W. Offices,
2, Claremont, Bradford, BD7 1BQ.
4
THE REPRESSION TRADE Continued
largest supplier of the ' tools'
(weapons) of repression; (her
ally, America is number one in
the Repression Trade).
The repression trade is known
in the arms trade as "internal
security equipment". It has
also been referred to as "the
technology of political control'
Business is booking. Distur-
bances in Iran, Indonesia, Nic-
aragua and Turkey, for instance
produced a sharp increase in
sales of riot control
equipment. In fact repression
is a more "dependable" trade
than war. Since many govern-
ments are engaged in a more or
less continuous struggle
against dissident movements,
which also means that the rep-
ression trade has a greater in-
pact on the day to day lives
of more people than all other
arms transfers combined.
To quote Michael Klare,
author of 1 Supplying Repress-
ion; US support for Authorita-
rian Regimes Abroad' , "faced
with a choice between contin-
uation of the status quo and a
major social upheaval culmina-
ting in the rise of unknown
leaders, who may or may not
respect the TRADE and INVEST-
MENT policies of their prede-
cessors, most western powers
will opt for the status quo".
It is in the interest of the
superpowers to strengthen the
internal security capabilities
of the Third World regimes
friendly to them. Generally
their support is aid to milit-
ary and paramilitary forces
but in some cases aid is also
given to police powers. Aid
can range from training to
hardware.
Much 1 internal security'
hardware is not technically
weaponry but they are used in
political warfare. Such items
include surveillance systems
and telephone tapping equip-
ment: riot batons and water
cannons; thumscrews and
electric shock devices: and
computerised intelligence
systems. Software includes
training, advisory support etc.
It is well known that the Nat-
ional Security Agency of the
US (NSA) is currently involved
in the covert, selective tapp-
ing of millions of private
telephone calls in the UK.
They achieve this through the
creation of special microwave
links in the public telecomm-
unications grid. "The reason
proferred to legitimise such
surveillance of the internal
political activity of an
allied country is that US
plans to reinforce Europe
during a future war could be
frustrated by the existance of
' fifth columns'." If you' re
reading this, there's a chance
you're either in one of these
Fifth columns' , sympathetic t~j
them, or making a note of my
name? The USSR does the same
thing ( but less is known
about it).
It would be wise for the
British dissident, normally
complacent, to contemplate how
the UK develops its equipment.
It tests them on the streets
of Northern Ireland, of course
- which is far less than a
million miles away.
The weaponry used to be re-
ferred to as ' non lethal' but
so many people died, it became
embarassing and the name was
changed to ' less lethal' , Less
lethal weaponry includes
plastic /rubber bullets, CN/CS
gas, both of which have lead
to death. The names ' plastic
bullets', ' tear gas' are delib-
erately soft sounding so that
onlookers do not get the impr-
ession that the police are too
harsh.
Michael Klare was able to
get his information on the USA
due to the Freedom of Informa-
tion Act (which Reagan would
like to repeal). In the UK,
the Official Secrets Act prev-
ents this. Secrecy can be
used as a selling point.
The fact that this forces
the peoples of some customers
to live in fear, under totali-
tarian control is called the
'social cost' of maintaining a
secure world. Such instruments
are the functional tools of
cultural imperalism (and
symbols of it) .
These policing technologies
increase violence in the long
term; increased militarisation
of the police leads to further
cultural militarisation. CAAT
(Campaign Against Arms Trade)
asks peace researchers to
focus more analysis on the
police and their equipment,
since far more people come
into direct contact with them
than their military conterpart.
Peace activists might also be
aware of the connection bet-
ween police and military. But
most of all, I think more
support could be given to
protests at Arms Fairs often
selling weapons of torture
(and war), though there may
not be a spy base or US nuke
base near you, there' s almost
certainly Army Recruitment
Offices, the Territorials and
if you' re in a city or large
town, one major police station
containing ' internal security
equipment' . But it 1 s overseas
it's used chiefly (including
Northern Ireland) and it' s
sold, for profit at Arms Fairs.
This is where the export deals
are won or lost. Public out-
cry in Britain in 1978 against
a sale of armoured cars to El
Salvador meant that order was
cancelled.
Britain has an expert pub-
lic face - hence embargoes on
arms sales with Amin' s Uganda
and South Africa - neither of
which was respected, trade
continued in both instances.
We' sold landrovers and trucks
(with guns on) to Uganda in
1977. They went to the noto-
rious State Research Centre,
Kampala, in which thousands
were tortured and murdered.
Plessey and Marconi supply
radar to South Africa, despite
the UN arms embargo on South
Africa in 1977. Landrovers
(vehicles in general, computer
and radiocommunication systems
and radar) are classed as
' dual role' equipment and are
still sold. They could be used
for peacefull purposes, but in
fact they are used for repres*
sive purposes. The British
govt, continues to justify its
arms trade by citing Article
51 of the UN Charter, which
gives every country the right
to self defence. ( The Charter
also declares there shall be
freedom of association, fair
trial, no torture or inhuman
inprisonment, arbitary arrest,
and that there shall be food,
clothing, housing, education,
and health care, work in good
conditions etc. ; so I don' t
think they can really claim to
be respecting the UN Charter.)
Local actions can draw
attention to local involvement.
One way is to find out which
local companies are involved.
You can find out from CAAT' s
booklet "The Arms Traders"
(£1.50 + postage) available
from CAAT, 5 Caledonian Rd,
London Nl 9DX. CAAT also have
details (and organise protests
at) Arms Fairs.
In America direct actions
have been taken; since it was
revealed last year that most
of the US weapons bound for El
Salvador were shipped through
Port Chicago, near San Frans*
cisco, peace activists have
come together to form a net-
work - the Port Chicago Camp-
aign, to oppose these exports.
Blockades of the port have
taken place and land and sea
blockades took place on 28th
July. That' s direct action.
CAAT do invaluable work, but I
see no point, as an anarchist,
in petitioning govts, (who
have shown who they are
already). Blockades are a good
idea. It's a form of 'blacking'
I suppose.
I wonder when the anti mili-
Can't pay, Won't pay
On August 12th Cleveland
Transit announced plans to
cut local bus services (and
therefore iobs) in Teeside in
a bid to stem their huge
operating losses. In response
bus workers imposed a ban on
late-night weekend working
which remained in operation
for the next six weekends. A
return to normal working was
negotiated on September 22nd
when management conceded the
extra inspector cover that the
union (TGWU) had been demand-
ing.
While wholeheartedly supp-
orting the bus workers' fight
to save their iobs and service
-s upon which working people
depend, it seems to us that a
bit of clear thinking is miss-
ing in their approach (or,
more likely, in the union
leaders) .
"It's a socially useful device for
use on the management"
tarist movement will get round
to sabotage, despite the risks.
Here in the UK you risk arrest
for criminal damage, at the
other end of the journey is
someone being killed or tortu-
red .
It' s worth noting that
Britain in this respect is not
different from 3rd World
nations. We now spend more on
'Defence' than Education (for
the first time), under Maggie,
We have 500,000 people working
on production for military use
but only 85,000 doctors and
The main reason Cleveland
transport are losing passenger
-s and money is that their
fares are so bloody expensive
that people can' t afford to
use their buses as regularly.
Cheaper fares would bring back
all their lost passengers . For
those on the dole, for example,
i hefty bus fare can amount to
quite a large chunk of their
meagre income. Indeed , the
Cleveland Unemployed Workers
Union makes free bus travel
for the unemployed and their
families one of its immediate
demands .
We have here an example of
the kind of warped thinking
reformist unionism descends to.
Instead of a steadfast defence
of iobs and services as things
which cannot be touched, the
union meets management half-
way and in very business-like
fashion calls for a clampdown
on fare dodging.lt doesn't
seem to matter that with this
call they are only going to
shift the burden onto people
who don' t pay because they
can' t pay. Other working people
in fact.
600,000 teachers. Many of
these jobs seem innocuous;
only 75,000 work directly on
arms export contracts, some
are in academic research,
others may produce fuses for
EMI (not even knowing these
are bomb fuses) . But do
workers have to face a choice
between the Arms factory and
the dole? No. The workers have
themselves indicated they'd
rather not be in the arms
trade, through their Shop
Stewards, in the 1976 Alter-
native Corporate Plan of Lucas
Aerospace. They would rather
the industry was converted
over to civilian production.
You can ask for 45% of your
incoire tax, normally for 'Def-
ence, to be paid via diversio-
nary cheques made out to the
Overseas Development Adminis-
tration instead. Finally,
money spent on military goods
does not create a lot of
wealth either, as few people
use and maintain them ie. if
the government spend £1,000
million in each area, the mil-
itary will generate 76,000,
the least of all, whereas
education will generate
187,000, health 139,000 and
construction 100,000.
Revolutionary unionism
on the other hand has nobler
aspirations and tactics. To it
the interests of the whole
class matter, not iust the
short-term interests of one
particular sect ion .Therefore ,
revolutionary unionists call
on bus workers to fight for
their iobs and the services in
a very different way. Instead
of penny-pinching with the
(for the most part working
class) passengers, how about
demanding a few "economies" at
the top, where the boss class
on fat salaries- never have to
use the buses (or dodge fares).
Instead of the simple with-
drawal of bus services (which
hurts the passengers more than
the management) a more effect-
ive tactic for transport work-
ers is to work as normal but
not bother to collect fares.
This guarantees you public
support and will soon bring
management to their senses.
What about victimisation by
the bosses you might ask. If
all stand firm what can they
do - sack everyone ?
MIDDLESBROUGH DAM
8
A
POST
MARCH
MQDTEM
At the meeting of the Hull
Trades Council two of the four
Hull sponsored marchers gave a
report of the group' s experien-
ces as part of the Yorkshire
and Humberside contingent of
the T.U.C. Peoples' March For
Jobs 1983. The marchers had
been impressed and emotionally
moved by acts of support and
solidarity they had witnessed,
but were appalled by the lack
of organisation, expression of
sexist attitudes, the overrule
of democratic decisions by
stewards and the use of violen-
ce by stewards.
For a march with a target of
50% female participation to
have no creche or child minding
facilities was somewhat surpris-
ing. The lack of seperate sleep-
ing accomodation on some occas-
ions was disappointing .The con-
stant barrage of sexist jibes
and remarks made one Hull woman
marcher relieved to leave the
march early. One woman was ex-
pelled from the march by the
stewards against the wishes of
her co-marchers, simply because
she was nine weeks pregnant.
Marchers were supposed to
take daily responsibility for
organising the march, by means
of regular marchers' meetings.
As time went on the meetings
became less frequent and the
marchers' wishes ignored. One
Hull marcher who complained
about misrepresentation of
marchers' views and that stew-
ards were appointed not elect-
ed, was accused of spreading
disunity, and was later threat-
ened and assaulted by other
marchers. The Hull group experi-
enced further threatening be-
haviour from marchers and stew-
ards, and reported that a
woman marcher from Halifax had
her toe broken by the chief
security steward. They also wit-
nessed other marchers and stew-
ards attacking members of Ox-
ford Trades Council, when they
supported the march .Marchers
were not allowed to wear CND
badges and could not even
choose their own slogans Some
marchers were taken off the
march for chanting "Tories Out'.'
The Hull marchers intended
to send their sixteen page re-
port to Liverpool Trades Council
who are to conduct an enquiry.
Hull Trades Council decided to
forward the report to Yorkshire
and Humberside Regional T.U.C.
The report was leaked almost
immediately to the local press.
The anti-union potential of the
report is obvious.
From the very outset the
high echelons of the T.U.C.
did not want the march to take
place. The T.U.C. Economic Comm-
ittee voted against it, as did
the Labour Party Executive
(some union barons sit on
both). It musr have been embarr-
assing when the wider-based
T.U.C. General Council over-
ruled the Economic Committee
and went ahead with the march
without real Labour support.
With the announcement of the
election, the T.U.C, always
anxious to preserve an image
of resonableness and respect-
ability, constrained the
genuine anger and resentment
of the marchers, by placing
strict limitations on the
marchers.
There is little doubt that
whenever the efforts of grass
roots unemployed or working are
directed by the stifling
structures of the T.U.C. , then
tb°se efforts will be reduced
to ineff ectual , shabby compro-
mise.
The People' s March was
symptomatic of the T.U.C s
attitude to the unemployed. The
T.U.C. attempts to co-ordinate
and direct the bargaining power
of groups of workers. The un-
employed have no direct bar-
gaining power and are therefore
regarded as second-class citi-
zens. Many unions will not main-
tain services to members who
become unemployed, and will
not recruit from the unemploy-
ed. Either because they fear
the influence of the unemploy-
ed or cannot afford to service
members who cannot pay sub-
scriptions .Thus the unemployed
cannot organise within unions.
Attempts to form seperate un-
employed workers' unions are
viewed with suspicion by the
T.U.C. and it will only support
initiatives whicn are prepared
to be bound in its own rigid
structures.
The present so-called de-
pression only exacerbates cont-
inual process of job erosion
by advancing technology . The
process is probably inevitable,
and in a free society would be
desirable. Ineffectually demand-
ing jobs will not remove the
traumas of unemployment - only
a fundamental re-evaluation of
work and social justice will
do that. The T.U.C. which is
locked into employer/employee
bargaining strategies, is not
the organisation to advance
such radical policies. To im-
prove their position, it is
vital that the unemployed or-
ganise amongst themselves, both
to promote their wn campaigns
and to forge links with employ-
ed workers. Until there exists
in society a genuine will to
re- think work, then the un-
employed will remain out in the
cold, a political football to
be kicked by all sides.
DOWN IN
DUMPS
Britain has been responsible
for 907. Of the radioactive
waste dumped in the sea.
Earlier this year the London
Dumping Convention voted for
a 2 year moratorium on dump-
ing while the risks to sea
life were studied further.
This years dumping would
have been the largest amount
ever dumped- 3500 tonnes,
compared to 2700 tonnes last
year and 2500 tonnes in 1981.
The nuclear authorities
have vitually abandoned the
dump following the seamens
ban on handling waste. The
action by the National Union
of Seamen has been a serious
blow to the prospect of Bri-
tain dumping any more radio-
active waste in the sea.
The Nuclear Industries
Radioactive Waste Executive
( NIREX) has said that it
will not ask the Government
for a military crew for the
"Atlantic Fisher" the ship
which should have done the
dumping. NIREX has said that
there is no chance of nuclear
waste being stranded at the
docks at Sharpness in Glous-
tershire awaiting the ship.
BR will not authorise the
removal of waste until the
ship docks with a crew.
The Seamens boycot shows
that workers can stop harm
to the seas through dumping
by direct action and are not
as insensitve to the environ-
ment as some people would
believe or others would hope.
The nuclear industry wants
to dump 10 times as much
waste into the sea by 1990.
If nuclear energy is so safe,
as we are always told, then
why not dump the waste in
the nuclear bosses front
gardens. JCB
The Heat
is ON
.The Fire Protection Associat-
ion, on which are represented
Britain's leading fire insur-
ance firms, has come up with
an interesting sidelight on
the present recession. Accord-
ing to the FPA the number of
"grudge fires" is increasing.
These are fires which have
been started by. workers who
have been sacked or made re-
dundant; they start the fire
as a way of getting their own
back, a sort of spectacular
way of putting two fingers up
at the boss. One can sympathise,
but burning down the workplace
only puts more people out of
work. The only serious response
to the threat of unemployment
is to take over the workplace,
establish workers' control,
and - MAKE THE BOSSES REDUND-
ANT. When that starts to happen
the class war will really be
hotting up.
_ Urge to
Destroy
Three bricklayers in North
Yorks. last month making
"superhomes" for the rich
were sacked without being
paid for allegedly botching
the job.
Rather than be conned into
working for nothing, a house
which took 3 weeks to build
was demolished in just 30
minutes with the aid of 141b
sledgehammers and axes...
Now who said that the
workers are lazy?
VANCOUVER 5
The political trials of 5
well respected militants in
Canada are now in progress.
Julie Belmas, Gerry Hannah,
Ann Hansen, Doug Stewart and
Brent Taylor are charged with
arson on 2 "Red Hot" video
porn shops in Vancouver, and
bombing a power station and
a cruise missile factory in
Toronto .
A London support group
has been formed; write for
more info to: Vancouver 5 Box
ABC, 121 Railton Rd. London
SE 24.
MADE IN JAPAN
Once again, the Japanese are between them. They also use the
leading the way in world indust- sa me washrooms, toilets and
ry, as far as wonderful new
ideas are concerned. Their
latest innovation in the field
of industrial relations is the
idea that has been implemented
at the Toshiba and Sanyo TV
factories at Plymouth and
Lowestoft respectively. The
arrangement is this - the
management and the workers
wear the same blue overalls,
to help break down the barriers
canteens. What' s more, the
workers are free to discuss
any problems with the manage-
ment, at any time. This may
sound all very well, but, not
surprisingly, there is a catch.
In return for these "concess-
ions", all the workforce have
to do is to make an agreement
to totally give up their right
to strike'. G.K.
UVINC ROOH
PINING ROOD
KITCMFN
BATHROOM
BEDROOM 1
BEDROOM 2
BEDROOM 3
CAMCF
CAR
♦ TELEPHONE
BASEMENT
HALLWAY 1
HALLWAY Z
* RKOMMC
FREE RADIO
Ecoutez Radio- Lib ertaire
Radio librede la Federation anarchiste emettant sur Paris
De 14 H a 18 H
el sabado, emision
en espanol con la
Sept. 3rd
march s
Sur 89,5 MHz - F.M.
Radio Libertaire is an anarch-
ist radio station in France
with an estimated daily audi-
ence of around 100, 000. On
Sunday August 28th it was the
target of government repression
as police raided the centre of
the French Anarchist Federat-
ion and smashed Radio Liber-
taire' s equipment (the French
government , it should be noted,
is a "socialist" one) . Pro test s
against this suppression of
free speech were not long in
forthcoming. In France these
came from, among others, the
proof-readers union affiliated
to the CGT (communist union
federation), the CGT-FO (anti-
communist union federation),,
the CNT (anarcho-syndicalist
union federation) and even
some Socialist Party members.
September 3rd saw 5000 people
marching in Paris in support
of Radio Libertaire. From Italy
the International of Anarchist
Federations sent a note of
protest, while in Spain the
National Committee of the CNT
(Spain) and the secretariat
of the International Workers
Association sent a delegation
to the Frencn embassy in
Madrid. The Swedish anarcho-
syndicalist federation also
declared its indignation. In
Oslo in Norway a demonstrat-
ion was organised in front of
the French embassy and a del-
egation from ANORG (the Nor-
wegian Anarchist Organisation)
delivered a protest letter.
Readers of Direct Action
can add their voice to these
protests by writing to the
French Consulate, 24 Rutland
Gate, London SW7. Despite the
repression Radio Libertaire
began broadcasting again on
Sept. 5th from 6am to mid -
night; the fight for free
speech in France goes on'.
FEDERATION
ANARCHISTE
FRANCAISE
RELATIONS
INTERNATIONALES
145 rue AME LOT 75011 PARIS
tel = 33.1.805 34 08
adherente a 1' Internationale des Federations Anarchistes
Cont from P. 7
Ir honour of these martyers
of the working class not only
is November 11th marked with
Anarchist meetings, but also
May Day , which has become the
day of workers the world over
before being an excuse for the
State Capitalists to show
their might or for reformists
to smother class strugle. It
was observed as a day to fight
for concrete gains with the
aim of an 8 hour day.
The Haymarket Martys were
not the only victims of the
U.S. reaction in the month of
November. In 1915 I.W.W. song
writer Joe Hill was executed
by the Mormon authorities in
Utah. Before this R.J Horton
was shot by a policeman in
Salt Lake City for speaking to
a crowd in defense of the
famous wobbly.
In November 1916 four work
ers were shot in the Free
Speech Fight and in 1919 Wesley
Everest was lynched in Washing-
ton State for resisting a
raid on the lumber workers
hall . Hundreds of others have
been victims up to the present
day.
Whilst the workers today
should point to the role of
the Chicago Martyrs and others
in the history of the workers
struggles a lot of unspectac-
ular work is needed to achieve
full scale marches and commem-
orations in Britain. Otherwise
we risk showing our weakness.
As Joe Hill said before his
death, "Don' t waste time
mourning - ORGANISE'.".
The case of the Newham 8
starts on October 24th, a pick-
et of the Court at Snaresbrook
for the duration of the trial
is planned.
Newham 8 Defence Campaign
P.O.Box 273, London E7 9 JN
Tele: (01)555 3331 (day),
(01)534 1640 (eve.)
SELF DEFENCE IS NO OFFENCE
TH<£ ONLY CONSPIRACY IS P0L~CE
CONSPIRACY
(Information taken from BLACK
FLAG.)
The South Manchester Anarch-
ist Group has asked us to
announce their exi s tence . They
can be contacted c/o Raven
Press, 8-10 Gt. Ancoats St.,
Manchester 4.
TOWARDS
ANARCH A FEMINISM
ANARCHA- FEMINIST CONFERENCE .
An Anarcha-Feminist Conference
was held at Doncaster Trades
Club on SAT. 3 September &on
Sunday a mixed meeting was held
(the first day was women only).
The Conferernce opened with
definitions of anarcha- feminism
The history of feminism has
been one of anarchical , non-
hierichical organisat ion. For
some of us , anarchism & feminism
are synonymous( do all anarchist
men agree though?). We agreed
wearenot separatists but the
validity of seperate meetings
was upheld(to develop confidence
to speak in mixed meetings and
generally. )We felt women prefer
less theorising than men? We
regretted that fewer women were
active in mainstream politics?
Though that depends on the
definition of mainstream. Women' s
politics are not seperate from
the industrial struggle;not a
side-issue. ( low-paid wof*en
workers?)The definition ofwork
should be extended to include
unpaid work by women ( chi 1 dwork ,
housework . )Women have three
problems with mainstream activit
-ies:(I)lack of time due to
child-care( 2) sexist anarchist
men(3)lack of creches atmost
conferences .Women must not be
isolated in the home, nor solely
in activist groups but in their
community. We might work with
as many groups as possible, i . e.
Left women, non-political women,
and men, but we wanted to show
our support, not patronise, &
offer resources where we could.
Our best way to show sisterhood
with women of other cultures
Asian Women' s Refuge workers
who have been threatened) is to
co-operate with their groups.
The State defuses our struggle
by providing Grants(e. g. Women' s
Aid, W. I. R. E. S. ) Anarcha- fern in ism
opposes all State intervention
&women who want political power
In Northern Ireland .women were
split into Political women(i.e.
anti-imperialist s )& women in
daily politics(Women' s Aid, Rape
Crisis Centres. ) Anarcha- feminism
can bridge both "camps. "We felt
Trotskyist part iesWomen' s Groups
were a way to put women Trots
neatly on one side,wheras we
could see no issue that did not
include men. Nevertheless , we
thought too much energy was iust
wasted by defensive men &also
defensive feminists -Mixed views
were expressed on the Greenham
Common Women ; qual i fied support
was given to the core of politic
-ally aware women there, whom we
hoped would up the level of the
sabotage act ivi t ies .On Porn, we
say "censorship"is our self-
expressioni . e.not from any Govt,
but us, those effected. We suppor
-ted Angry Womenin bombing Porn
Shops as direct action. Porn is
not only an oppressive image of
women -it involves as well the
exploitation of women who work
in the Porno Industry. Is there
more reaction on racism/classism
than sexism from male anarchists
As Anarcha-f eminists,we support
women taking direct action ,not
appeals for anti-porn laws, nor
tougher sentences for rapists;
instead, we support organisation
by women as far as possible
against rapei . e. provision of
minibuses , sel f- defence classes ,
vigilante women taking revenge
on rapists .Abortion was debated
(one woman said she did not want
an abortion, others must choose
for themsel ves.)We need to oppos
-e any planned anti-abortion
legislation(e.g. in Ireland), but
we do not depend on appeals to
the State. Women in D-A.M- felt
that "Direct Action"should
include more anarcha- feminism,
(please send us Copy.)A D.A.M.
pamphlet on Anarcha-f eminism is
planned for publication soon.
On the next day.no men disagre
-ed(at first)to "Women Only"
meetings, on the grounds f! at
women are oppressed differs ltly
to men. The men said in male
groups there are tensions( class ;
homo/hetero tensions) , especially
men oppressed by macho men.We
wondered how can we best confron
-t dominators,male or female?
The men asked us if our meeting
would' ve been spoiled by the
presence of men?Some women said
yes, some said no; the women did
not feel hindered/ tense with the
particular men present -Later , one
man did obiect to women only
meetings .The .women felt only
they defended women only meet-
ings,not the m^n. Some men said
we were jumping to conclusions
about their reasons & this
offended them. The man who
objected compared worien only
meetings with black only
meetings, which he said were
all anti -white. The women
replied that our meeting was
not anti-men. If non-sexist men
critised sexist men, they felt
ignored or, in some social
circles, ridiculed as gay.(This
sexism against gay men they also
find difficult to confront, with-
-out al ienat-ing other men.)
Brief mention was made of the
Saturday's anarchist videos.
We 1 iked the Women' s Fire
Brigade, supporters of the
Vancouver Five, who are women
of all ages and in the video
on Jewish anarchists in New
York, no ted that the majority
of those activists we ; e of
the "older g on era tio n" . Videos
are available from 1?".,Rai.lton
Road ,LondonSE24.
The number of women present
wns fewer than expected (many
of them in D.A.M.) .It is hoped
to hold a larger anarcha- fern in
-ist Conference r.ext year. In
1980, a conference of 100 women
was held;we were short of time
perhaps, but a start has teen
made to revive -and expand--
anarcha- feminism in Britain, of
which "The Anarchist Feminist
KagcKine" must surely play a
part- Send copy toThe Anarchism
Feminist Magazine, now r./o
Leeds Anarchist Women, BOX V,
59, Cookridge Street , Leeds .
N.B. On Sunday, we also re-
-discussed Northern Ireland, Rate
and Ra p e .
SUBSIDIES
Public transport subsidies
in Britain's main urban areas
should be increased - accord-
ing to the Department of Trans-
port computer model which was
initially set up to cut sub-
sidies'. Detail s of this embarr-
assing result for the govern-
ment were revealed recently at
a major traffic conference
held at Sussex University org-
anised by Planning and Trans-
port Computation and Research.
The 1983 Transport Act
enables the Department of
Transport to limit subsidies
to public transport in London
and the metropolitan counties.
So, to decide which counties
should get more subsidies and
which less, the Department got
together with a consultant
from the L.S.E. and developed
a computer model to divide up
the cake. The model revealed
that even South Yorkshire with
the highest bus subsidy in
Britain should have a higher
subsidy'.And in Greater Manchest
-er and West Yorkshire, bus
and train fares ought to be
cut by a quarter, and paid for
by higher subsidies.
12
1 would like to know more about
the DAM/IWA.
NAME
ADDRESS
POSTGODE
OCCUPATION
TRADE^ UNION
Cut out and send to DAM / 1 WA : -
c/o The Autonomy Centre, Raven
Press, 8-10 Great Ancoats
Street, Manchester 4.
MANCHESTER DAM/IWA:
The former mailing address for
Manchester DAM at the Corn
Exchange has been discontinued.
The new address is now: the
Autonomy Centre c/o Raven
Press, 8-10 Great Ancoats St.
Manchester 4.
Press ££
Appeal
Mutual At»,
Thanx to the Comrades who
sent in money to help us
produce this copy of Direct
Action, readers are asked to
send donations in, no matter
how small to;
Direct Action
Box DAM
59 Cookridge Street,
Leeds .
LS2 3 AW .
Cheques and P.O.'s should be
made out to Direct Action.
Direct Action
Movement
Aims and Principles of the Direct Action Movement
(1) The Direct Action Movement is a working class
organisation.
(2) 0ur aim is the creation of a free and classless
society.
(3) We are fighting to abolish the state, capitalism
and wage slavery in all their forms and replace
them by self-managed production for need not profit
(4) In order to bring about the new social order the
workers must take over the means of production and
distribution. We are the sworn enemies of those who
would take over on behalf of the workers.
(5) We believe that the only way for the working class
to achieve this is for independent organisation' in
the workplace and community and federation with oth
-ers in the same industry and locality, independent
of, and opposed to all political parties and trade
union bureaucracies. All such workers organisations
must be controlled by workers themselves and must
unite rather than divide the workers movement. Any
and all delegates and representatives of such wor-
kers organisations must be subject to immediate
recall by the workers.
(6) We are. opposed to all States and State institutions.
The working class has no country. The class struggle
is worldwide and recognises no artificial boundaries
The armies and police of all States do not exist to
protect the workers of those States, they exist only
as the repressive arm of the ruling class.
(7) We oppose racisn, sexism, militarism and all attit-
udes and institutions that stand in the way of equ-
ality and the right of all people everywhere to con-
trol their own lives and the environment.
The Direct Action Movement is a federation of groups
and individuals who believe in the principles of
anarcho-syndicalism; a system where the workers alone
control industry and the community without the dictates
of politicians, bureaucrats, bosses and so-called experts.
in ,U3
a w
H t— t
1-1 to
OS 3
J
v <•
01
£
h
n ir
LOCAL CONTACTS
CLASS STRUGGLE
Various branches of the DAM
(in Birmingham, Burnley, Hull
and Middlesbrough) are now pro-
ducing their own broadsheets
or papers (Class Struggle, The
Agitator .Strike Back etc.). The
Hull branch inform us that
copies of their paper, Class
Struggle, are available from
our national address. Send an
SAE.
